4 ms·

I've never actually tried this, anyone like it? Any specific product particularly good/bad?

AlexandrB 5y ago
The spicy Italian Beyond Meat sausage - either barbecued or fried - makes a really nice hot dog. I've lost count of how many I had this summer. Edit: On the bad side - Canadian A&W featured Beyond Meat chicken nuggets. These tasted nothing like chicken. They weren't inedible, but not a good approximation of even the low quality nugget meat.
wumpus 5y ago
A single bite makes me ill, but apparently that's not typical.
nikodunk 5y ago
I've replaced much of my meat eating with Impossible (very available and relatively affordable at $5.99 in Trader Joe's in the US). Mainly for environmental/ethical reasons. Ground impossible meat is as good as real ground beef IMO, though it took me a while to realize that you need to salt/spice it just as you would real meat too! ie. if you put straight ground beef on a grill, it'll taste a little bland. Same with the fake meats.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  It’s $5.99 for a 12oz package, or ~$8/lb.
sjwalter 5y ago
I've tried it. It doesn't taste terrible. It's clearly not meat, however. I'm biased (chicken farmer), but to me it seems quite strange to think that some highly-processed factory-produced meatlike substance could ever come close to matching the nutritive quality of well-raised and processed meat. Factories are in general not well-known for producing healthful food.
- joe-collins 5y ago
  It's mostly soy protein powder and sunflower and coconut oil, with a multivitamin and a few other minor ingredients tossed in. Some are spooked by the presence of soy or the idea of isolated vitamins, and I would personally love to know a little more about the specific processing of the sunflower oil, but otherwise it's fairly unexceptional.
joe-collins 5y ago
I enjoy impossible burgers. They grill a little different and don't release as much juice, but the end result is still tasty, and definitely tastier than cheap, higher-fat burgers. As for the ground impossible meat, my only negative feedback is that it's a poor candidate for use in boxed dinners (like Hamburger Helper), because the addition of too much liquid ruins the illusion: it starts to dissolve into its constituent vegetable powders. But heck, I recently found the burgers flagged with a modest discount at Costco that made them cheaper than the beef burgers, per unit!
dagw 5y ago
Compared to a fast food burger I it's no worse than the meat they use for those burgers. Compared to a burger from a high quality burger joint it's not close. For dishes where you're already using lower quality ground meat as 'bulk' I can absolutely see it competing. The main problem is that it still costs a fair bit more than the low end meat it has a reasonable chance of replacing. Once it gets to a price point where McDonalds can sell their Impossible Big Mac for $1 cheaper than their meat Big Mac, then I think things will really start to change.
arduinomancer 5y ago
I've tried both Beyond/Impossible I found impossible tastes more like real meat, reminded me of a cheap frozen grocery store patty To me Beyond tasted less like real meat but had a better flavor/spices
- phonypc 5y ago
  Cheap frozen grocery store patties tend to include textured veg protein anyway, so I'm not sure that's a flattering comparison.
wellthisisgreat 5y ago
Only tried patties / burgers. Depending on the size of the patty it's as good as the best fast food burger or as a medium-grade (not medium in a sense of "medium rare") gourmet burger. You should absolutely eat it hot though, once it cools down it's a a bit less good. Overall it's pretty amazing and can work as a substitute for meat. It doesn't give you the meat heaviness, which some people may consider a downside, but I personally consider it an upside. I can't imagine having a 1/2 lb burger and then doing sports even 2 hours later. I'd just feel gross and heavy.kj With Impossible burger sports would be totally, well, possible.
cshokie 5y ago
It’s a great replacement for beef for taco meat. With all the chili seasoning it is as good or better than real beef. You really can’t tell much of a difference. We haven’t tried it as burgers yet (we mostly eat turkey burgers anyway). I do also wonder how the food safety compares. Ground beef has a large risk of e-coli and needs to be thoroughly cooked. Presumably plant-based food doesn’t have the same level of danger. Although I imagine if left unrefrigerated anything with that much nutrition in it would quickly become dangerous to eat.
telesilla 5y ago
Haven't eaten meat in over 30 years. Had an Impossible burger at a fancy Manhattan restaurant one night, and the next to balance it out from Bareburger, to make sure it wasn't just how it was prepared. Never want one again as it made me feel I was eating meat. I love Beyond however, and keep a freezer full of their products at hand. Not so realistic.

The spicy Italian Beyond Meat sausage - either barbecued or fried - makes a really nice hot dog. I've lost count of how many I had this summer. Edit: On the bad side - Canadian A&W featured Beyond Meat chicken nuggets. These tasted nothing like chicken. They weren't inedible, but not a good approximation of even the low quality nugget meat.

wumpus 5y ago

A single bite makes me ill, but apparently that's not typical.

nikodunk 5y ago

I've replaced much of my meat eating with Impossible (very available and relatively affordable at $5.99 in Trader Joe's in the US). Mainly for environmental/ethical reasons. Ground impossible meat is as good as real ground beef IMO, though it took me a while to realize that you need to salt/spice it just as you would real meat too! ie. if you put straight ground beef on a grill, it'll taste a little bland. Same with the fake meats.

sokoloff 5y ago
It’s $5.99 for a 12oz package, or ~$8/lb.

sjwalter 5y ago

I've tried it. It doesn't taste terrible. It's clearly not meat, however. I'm biased (chicken farmer), but to me it seems quite strange to think that some highly-processed factory-produced meatlike substance could ever come close to matching the nutritive quality of well-raised and processed meat. Factories are in general not well-known for producing healthful food.

joe-collins 5y ago
It's mostly soy protein powder and sunflower and coconut oil, with a multivitamin and a few other minor ingredients tossed in. Some are spooked by the presence of soy or the idea of isolated vitamins, and I would personally love to know a little more about the specific processing of the sunflower oil, but otherwise it's fairly unexceptional.

joe-collins 5y ago

I enjoy impossible burgers. They grill a little different and don't release as much juice, but the end result is still tasty, and definitely tastier than cheap, higher-fat burgers. As for the ground impossible meat, my only negative feedback is that it's a poor candidate for use in boxed dinners (like Hamburger Helper), because the addition of too much liquid ruins the illusion: it starts to dissolve into its constituent vegetable powders. But heck, I recently found the burgers flagged with a modest discount at Costco that made them cheaper than the beef burgers, per unit!

dagw 5y ago

Compared to a fast food burger I it's no worse than the meat they use for those burgers. Compared to a burger from a high quality burger joint it's not close. For dishes where you're already using lower quality ground meat as 'bulk' I can absolutely see it competing. The main problem is that it still costs a fair bit more than the low end meat it has a reasonable chance of replacing. Once it gets to a price point where McDonalds can sell their Impossible Big Mac for $1 cheaper than their meat Big Mac, then I think things will really start to change.

arduinomancer 5y ago

I've tried both Beyond/Impossible I found impossible tastes more like real meat, reminded me of a cheap frozen grocery store patty To me Beyond tasted less like real meat but had a better flavor/spices

phonypc 5y ago
Cheap frozen grocery store patties tend to include textured veg protein anyway, so I'm not sure that's a flattering comparison.

wellthisisgreat 5y ago

Only tried patties / burgers. Depending on the size of the patty it's as good as the best fast food burger or as a medium-grade (not medium in a sense of "medium rare") gourmet burger. You should absolutely eat it hot though, once it cools down it's a a bit less good. Overall it's pretty amazing and can work as a substitute for meat. It doesn't give you the meat heaviness, which some people may consider a downside, but I personally consider it an upside. I can't imagine having a 1/2 lb burger and then doing sports even 2 hours later. I'd just feel gross and heavy.kj With Impossible burger sports would be totally, well, possible.

cshokie 5y ago

It’s a great replacement for beef for taco meat. With all the chili seasoning it is as good or better than real beef. You really can’t tell much of a difference. We haven’t tried it as burgers yet (we mostly eat turkey burgers anyway). I do also wonder how the food safety compares. Ground beef has a large risk of e-coli and needs to be thoroughly cooked. Presumably plant-based food doesn’t have the same level of danger. Although I imagine if left unrefrigerated anything with that much nutrition in it would quickly become dangerous to eat.

telesilla 5y ago

Haven't eaten meat in over 30 years. Had an Impossible burger at a fancy Manhattan restaurant one night, and the next to balance it out from Bareburger, to make sure it wasn't just how it was prepared. Never want one again as it made me feel I was eating meat. I love Beyond however, and keep a freezer full of their products at hand. Not so realistic.